Editing J. Z. Knight (section)

==Ramtha==
{{Redirect|Ramtha|the city in Jordan|Ar-Ramtha}}

"Ramtha"—the name is claimed to be derived from ''Ram'' and to mean "the God" in Ramtha's language—is a reputed entity whom Knight says she [[Channelling (mediumistic)|channel]]s. According to Knight, Ramtha was a [[Lemuria (continent)|Lemurian]] warrior who fought the [[Atlantis|Atlanteans]] over 35,000 years ago.<ref name="JZK Publishing 2005">JZK Publishing; Revised & enlarged edition (2005), {{ISBN|978-1-57873-045-2}}</ref> Knight claims Ramtha speaks of leading an army over 2.5 million strong (more than twice the [[World population#Population figures|estimated world population]] at about 30,000 BC) for 63 years, and conquering three-fourths of the known world (which was allegedly going through cataclysmic geological changes). According to Knight, Ramtha led the army for 10 years until he was betrayed and almost killed.<ref name="whitebook">{{cite book|last=Knight|first=J.Z.|title=Ramtha: The White Book|publisher=JZK Publishing|location=[[Yelm, Washington]]|page=28|year=1999}}</ref>

Knight maintains Ramtha spent the next seven years in isolation recovering and observing nature, the seasons, his army making homes and families, and many other things. She says he later mastered many skills, including foresight and [[out-of-body experience]]s, until he led his army to the [[Indus River]] while in his late fifties (after having led his army for 63 years). According to Knight, Ramtha taught his soldiers everything he knew for 120 days, then he bade them farewell, rose into the air, and in a bright flash of light [[Entering heaven alive|ascended]] before them. Knight promised his army he would return to teach them everything he learned. In 1977, Ramtha appeared before JZ Knight, telling her he came to help her. She claims to be his first student in the great work.<ref name="JZK Publishing 2005"/>

===Teachings===
{{see|Ramtha's School of Enlightenment#Teachings}}

Ramtha is the central figure (the "master teacher") of [[Ramtha's School of Enlightenment]], started by Knight in 1987 near the town of Yelm, Washington. Classes (or "dialogues") had been held worldwide for the previous 10 years. There are currently over 6,000 students of Knight's teachings.<ref name="olympian3"/>

The four cornerstones of Knight's philosophy are:<ref name="introduction">{{Cite web|last=Knight|first=J.Z.|title=Ramtha's School of Enlightenment – an Introduction (PDF)|url=http://ramtha.com/html/pdf/introduction.pdf|access-date=November 20, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206072711/http://ramtha.com/html/pdf/introduction.pdf|archive-date=February 6, 2009}}</ref>
* The statement 'You are god'
* The directive to make known the unknown
* The concept that consciousness and energy create the nature of reality
* The challenge to conquer yourself

Knight's teachings appear to be a mixture of [[Jung]]ian philosophy, [[Western occult tradition]]s, and contemporary [[Affirmations (New Age)|positive-thinking attitudes]] (such as [[New Age]] beliefs),<ref name="wynn">{{Cite book| last1 = Wynn | first1 = Charles M.| last2 = Wiggins | first2 = Arthur W.| last3 = Harris  | first3 = Sidney| title = Quantum leaps in the wrong direction: where real science ends – and pseudoscience begins| publisher = [[Joseph Henry Press]]| location = Berlin| year = 2001| pages = 85–86| isbn = 978-0-309-07309-7}}</ref> and have yet to stand against elementary [[skepticism]] or scrutiny.<ref name="sagan">{{Cite book| last = Sagan| first = Carl| author-link = Carl Sagan| title = The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark| publisher = [[Ballantine Books]]| year=1997| pages = 480| isbn = 978-0-394-53512-8}}</ref> Predictions made by Knight in the name of the disembodied entity have either failed to come true (e.g., that a holocaust would take place in 1985 or the US would be involved in a major war in 1985) or the predicted scenarios are too wide to evaluate and/or have too large an error margin to be considered, which is usually the case with channelers.<ref name="wynn"/>

When Knight says she is channeling Ramtha, she speaks mostly in English in what sounds like an accent from the [[British Raj]].<ref name="sagan"/><ref name="shermer"/>

In her teachings, "Ramtha" has made several controversial statements, including that [[Christianity]] is a "backward" [[religion]]; that the [[parables of Jesus]] can be explained by means of [[Photon#Wave–particle duality and uncertainty principles|photon waves]] and [[probability]];<ref name="salon"/> that "murder isn't really wrong or evil" (if one believes in [[reincarnation]]);<ref name="chandler">{{Cite book| last = Chandler| first = Russell| title = Understanding the New Age| publisher = Zondervan Publishing House| year = 1993| location = Grand Rapids, MI| pages = 265| url = http://www.ccel.us/newage.toc.html| isbn = 978-0-310-38561-5| quote = J.Z. Knight, channel for Cro-Magnon entity Ramtha, says murder isn't really wrong or evil. "If you believe in the continuation of life [reincarnation] it's a different story," she said on ABC's "20/20."| archive-date = 2009-07-18| access-date = 2009-11-19| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090718010606/http://www.ccel.us/newage.toc.html| url-status = dead}}</ref> and, during the court case ''JZ Knight v Jeff Knight'', the latter Knight stated Ramtha had declared [[HIV/AIDS]] to be [[Nature (philosophy)|Nature]]'s way of "getting rid of" [[homosexuality]].<ref name="salon">{{cite news |last=Gorenfeld |first=John |title="Bleep" of faith |work=[[Salon.com|Salon]] |date=2004-09-16 |url=http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/feature/2004/09/16/bleep/index1.html?pn=1 |access-date=2006-11-29 |archive-date=2011-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606213959/http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/feature/2004/09/16/bleep/index1.html?pn=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] observed "Ramtha" has made [[antisemitic]] comments, such as "Fuck [[Jews as the chosen people|God's chosen people]]! I think they have earned enough cash to have paid their way out of the goddamned [[The Holocaust#Gas chambers|gas chambers]] by now".<ref name="splcenter.org"/>